Caring and sharing

My faithful readers, such as they are, will have noticed that I have been silent for almost a month before the previous post. This was due to the joyful occasion of having my parents visit for three weeks here. Though we didn't go on any massive holidays, going away only at the weekend, it did somewhat cut into my 'random' time, especially because I was at work during the day, so I felt I had to spend proper time with them in the evening.

This is not the place to discuss in any detail how the three weeks went, though I will say that it wasn't as bad as I feared, and in fact a lot of fun was had at various points (yes, so there was a minor breakdown or two as well, but that was to be expected), and it even feels a little weird now that they are gone (not that I will be living on my own for very long......*grin grin grin*).

Instead of musing on the psychoticness or otherwise of my family relations, I shall dwell on more interesting (? well, more safe for public consumption at any rate!) episodes of the past three weeks. First and foremost: I drove on the motorway!!! Thrice!!! It had many lanes! And trucks that I overtook! And ramps to get onto and off of! And I was a little scared! But somehow - well, with my dad's direction in part - I did it, and nothing bad happened, and though I am not particularly interested in taking it up as a hobby, it's good to know that I can do it if necessary, and avoid wandering round minor roads all the time. Related to this is the acquisition of a GPS speaking thingy, I was torn about it since it seems a bit of a cop-out to me, but at the same time it is SO nice to drive about without having to deal with getting lost in the NJ countryside all the time, picturesque as it is - I feel I've had more than my share of that for a while....

I baked a couple of times while they were here and it was well-received, which is nice, given how competitive my dad and I are in the kitchen :-) I was even rewarded with an electric whisk to facilitate said baking, which, though not strictly necessary, is not unwelcome! (but I was in Williams and Sonoma at the weekend and could be found lovingly stroking what I really have my eye on [warning: awful flash], when the time is right...)

Also my dad decided that I really needed a pressure cooker, a thought which to be honest had never even entered my mind, but there you go. I now have one, and it is rather neat, and cooks things very fast, though it makes a very scary hissing noise while it does so, and there is a constant mild undertone of fear of explosions and scaldings to the cooking process, but never mind. I will get over it.

Still on the subject of food, I took my mom to see Julie & Julia which we rather enjoyed, especially the parts about Julia Child, and it confirmed my opinion that Meryl Streep is the bearer of much, much acting greatness.

This post seems to revolve around food a lot and those who know my family know it's the way in which we communicate best, so no surprises there :-) We also did a bit of travelling in nearby regions, but that will be the subhect of another post...